Public relations in public institutions: A research on the effectiveness of communication process

Engin Çelebi

doi:10.14687/jhs.v17i2.5970

Authors

Engin Çelebi Cukurova University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14687/jhs.v17i2.5970

Keywords:

Public Relations, Public Institutions, Relationship Management, Communication Management, Public Communication

Abstract

Public relations practitioners can assume many different roles in public institutions. The common goal of these different roles is to try to influence the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of the target groups through effective communication strategies. Thus, support from the public is considered. In this study, it is aimed to find out the effective strategies to improve the quality of the relations with the target groups of public institutions. For this purpose, the relationship between the communicative process established by public institutions with their target groups and relational results were examined. The research conducted on 251 people revealed that perceived communicative skills of local public institutions had positive effects on public relations perceptions (trust, commitment, satisfaction). The most important dimension is satisfaction. On the other hand, a weak relationship was found between the communicative process and control mutuality. This finding indicates that public relations department is not effective in the decision making process in public institutions. The results of the research are proposed to improve the relational results between public institutions and target groups.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biography

Engin Çelebi, Cukurova University

PhD, Cukurova University, Faculty Of Communication, Department of Public Relations and Advertising

References

Avery, E.J. & Graham, M.W. (2013) “Political Public Relations and the Promotion of Participatory, Transparent Government Through Social Media”, International Journal of Strategic Communication 7:4, pp. 274-291.

Bennett, W. L. (2016) “News: The politics of illusion”, (tenth ed.), University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.

Broom, G. M. & Sha, B. (2013) “Cutlip and Center’s effective public relations”, Boston, MA: Pearson.

Brown, D. (2005) “Electronic government and public administration”, International Review of Administrative Sciences 71(2), pp. 241-254.

Bruning, S. D. (2002) “Relationship building as retention strategy: Linking relationship attitudes and satisfaction evaluations to behavioral outcomes”, Public Relations Review 28, pp. 39–48.

Bruning, S.D., Dials, M. & Shirka, A. (2008) “Using dialogue to build organization–public relationships, engage publics, and positively affect organizational outcomes”, Public Relations Review 34, pp. 25–31.

Chen, N. (2009) “Institutionalizing public relations: A case study of Chinese government crisis communication on the 2008 Sichuan earthquake”, Public Relations Review 35, pp. 187–198.

Cutlip, S. M., Center, A.H. & Broom, G.M. (1994) “Effective Public Relations”, Upper Sadddle River, NJ : Prentice-Hall.

Çelebi, E. (2018a) "Measuring the Effectiveness of Organizational Public Relations: An Experimental Research on Crisis Response Strategies", Journal of Communication Theory & Research 46, pp. 275-290.

Çelebi, E. (2018b) "Measuring Effectiveness Of Relationship Management In Public Relations: A Research On Sport Clubs", International Conference On Management, Economics & Social Science - ICMESS 2018, Proceedings Of Researchfora International Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, p.1-4.

Çelebi, E. & Bilir, F.P. (2019) "Effects Of Relationship Management On Sports Consumers: A Research On Private Sports Centers", in: Recent Advances in Social Sciences, Eds. by. Efe,R., Koleva,I., Öztürk, M., and Arabacı, R., Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, pp.452-468.

Fairbanks, J., Plowman, K.D. & Rawlins, B.L. (2007) “Transparency in government communication”, Journal Of Public Affairs 7, pp. 23-37.

Ferguson, M. A. (1984) “Building theory in public relations: Interorganizational relationships”, Presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, Gainesville, FL.

Graham, M.A. & Avery, E.J. (2013) “Government Public Relations and Social Media: An Analysis of the Perceptions and Trends of Social Media Use at the Local Government Level”, Public Relations Journal, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 1-21.

Grimmelikhuijsen, S. G. & Welch, E. W. (2012) “Developing and testing a theoretical framework for computer-mediated transparency of local governments”, Public Administration Review 72(4), pp. 562–571.

Grunig, J. (1992) “Excellence in public relations and communication management”, (Ed. J. Grunig) Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Grunig, J. E. & Huang, Y. H. (2000) “From organizational effectiveness to relationship indicators: Antecedents of relationships, public relations strategies, and relationship outcomes”, In J. A. Ledingham & S. D. Bruning (Eds.), “Public relations as relationship management: A relational approach to public relations” (pp. 23–54). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Grunig, J. E. & Jaatinen, M. (1999) “Strategic, symmetrical public relations in government: From pluralism to societal corporatism”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 3(3), pp. 218–234.

Habermas, J. (1991) “The structural transformation of the public sphere” (Translated by. T. Burger and F. Lawrence) Cambridge, The MIT Press.

Harris, P. & Fleisher, C. S. (2016) “The SAGE Handbook of International Corporate and Public Affairs”, London, Sage Publication.

Heath, R. L. & Coombs, W.T. (2006) “Today’s Public Relations: an Introduction”, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.

Hon, L.C. & Grunig, J.E. (1999) “Guidelines for Measuring Relationships in Public Relations”, Institute for Public Relations, pp.1-40.

Hong, H. (2013) “Government websites and social media’s influence on government-public relationships”, Public Relations Review 39, pp. 346– 356.

Hong , H., Park , H., Lee, Y. & Park, J. (2012) “Public Segmentation and Government–Public Relationship Building: A Cluster Analysis of Publics in the United States and 19 European Countries”, Journal of Public Relations Research 24:1, pp. 37-68.

Huang, Y. (2000) “The personal influence model and Gao Guanxi in Taiwan Chinese public relations”, Public Relations Review 26, pp. 219–236.

Huang, Y. (2001) “Values of Public Relations: Effects on Organization-Public Relationships Mediating Conflict Resolution”, Journal of Public Relations Research 13:4, pp. 265-301.

Hutton, J.G., Goodman, M.B., Alexander, J.B. & Genest, C.M. (2001) “Reputation management: the new face of corporate public relations?”, Public Relations Review 27, pp. 247–261.

Johannesen, R.L. , Valde, K.S. & Whedbee, K.E. (2008) “Ethics in human communication”, Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press.

Johansson, B. & Larsson, L. (2015) “The Complexity of Public Relations Work: PR Managers in the Public and Private Sector in Sweden”, Nordicom Review 36 (1), pp.125-139.

Karlsson, M., Clerwall, C. & Buskqvist, U. (2013) “Political Public Relations on the Net: A Relationship Management Perspective”, Public Relations Journal, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 1-23.

Kelleher, T. (2009) “Conversational voice, communicated commitment, and public relations outcomes in interactive online communication”, Journal of Communication 59, pp. 172–188.

Ki, E. & Hon, L.C. (2007) “Reliability and Validity of Organization: Public Relationship Measurement and Linkages Among Relationship Indicators In a Membership Organization”, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Vol. 84, No. 3, pp. 419-438.

Ki, E.J. & Hon, L. C. (2009) “Causal linkages between/among relationship cultivation strategies and relationship quality outcomes”, International Journal of Strategic Communication 3:4, pp. 242–263.

Kim. S.E. (2005) “The role of trust in the modern administrative state: An integrative model”, Administration & Society, 37(5), pp. 611–635.

Kim, S. (2010) “Public Trust in Government in Japan and South Korea: Does the Rise of Critical Citizens Matter?” Public Administration Review, Vol. 70, Issue 5, pp. 801-810.

Ledingham, J.A. (2001) “Government-community relationships: extending the relational theory of public relations”, Public Relations Review 27, pp. 285–295.

Ledingham, J. A. & Brunning, S.D. (1998) “Relationship Management in Public Relations: Dimensions of an Organization Public Relationship”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 55-65.

Liu, B.F. & Horsley, J. S. (2007) “The Government Communication Decision Wheel: Toward a Public Relations Model for the Public Sector”, Journal Of Public Relations Research 19 (4), pp. 377-393.

Mengu, S. & Mengu, M. (2016) “Making Sense of Public Relations as Culture Policy”, Journalism and Mass Communication, Vol. 6, No. 10, pp. 632-639.

Park, J. (2003) “Discrepancy Between Korean Government and Corporate Practitioners Regarding Professional Standards in Public Relations: A CoOrientation Approach”, Journal of Public Relations Research, Vol. 15:3, pp. 249-275.

Rawlins, B. L., & Bowen, S. A. (2005) “Publics. In Encyclopedia of public relations”, (Ed.) Heath, R.L., pp. 718–721. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Rise, C. & Sommerville, I. (2013) “Power-sharing and political public relations: Government press relationships in Northern Ireland’s developing democratic“, Public Relations Review 39, pp. 293–302.

Searson, E. M. & Johnson, M.A. (2010) “Transparency laws and interactive public relations: An analysis of Latin American government Web sites”, Public Relations Review 36, pp. 120–126.

Scott, J. K. (2006). “E” the people: Do U.S. municipal government web sites support public involvement?”, Public Administation Review, Vol. 66(3),pp. 341–353.

Sommerfeldt, E.J. & Kent, M.L. (2015) “Civil Society, Networks, and Relationship Management: Beyond the Organization–Public Dyad”, International Journal of Strategic Communication 9:3, pp. 235-252.

Sweetser, K. D. (2010) “A losing strategy: The impact of nondisclosure in social media on relationships”, Journal of Public Relations Research, Vol. 22(3), pp. 288–312.

Sweetser, K.D. & Kelleher, T. (2016)” Communicated commitment and conversational voice: Abbreviated measures of communicative strategies for maintaining organization-public relationships”, Journal Of Public Relations Research, Vol. 28, No. 5–6, pp. 217–231.

Taylor, M. (2000) “Media relations in Bosnia: A role for public relations in building civil society”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 26(1), pp. 1–14.

Tolbert, C.J. & Mossberger, K. (2006) “The Effects of E-Government on Trust and Confidence in Government”, Public Administration Review, Vol. 66/3, pp. 354-369.

Van Ruler, B. & Vercic, D. (2005) “Reflective Communication Management, Future Ways for Public Relations Research”, Annals of the International Communication Association, Vol. 29:1, pp. 239-274.

Welch, M. (2006) “Rethinking relationship management: Exploring the dimension of trust”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 138-155.